Kenya: Sovereignty, Legitimacy And Bureaucracy

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My country of choice is Kenya. Kenya is a country in East Africa and is bonded to an Indian Ocean coastline. The country has a population of about 52.2 million and the country is ranked as 27th most populous country. The country capital is Nairobi city, the country is bordered by Ethiopia on the north, by Uganda to the east, on the west the country is bounded by Tanzania while on the South by Sudan.

The country’s modern state structure dates back to that used when it attained its independence from its Britain colonial masters. Upon attaining its independence in 1963, the country assumed a structure the same as of its colonial structure, since then the country has amended its constitution several times intending to come up with a better constitution. The latest amendments were passed in the year 2013 where the country passed a referendum that led to the forming of devolved government. The modern structure of the Kenyan government allows power to be shared in two levels where there is national and country government where the country has a total of 47 counties where every county is headed by a governor and national government is headed by a president (Drogus,2017).

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Kenya has continually faced numerous security challenges from both within and outside its territorial boundaries. Through the principle of territorial integrity, the country has continued to protect its citizen’s rights, property, freedom, stability prosperity as well as ensuring there is peace. To enhance this Kenyan government has always put efforts to ensure its foreign policies are always geared towards ensuring there are mutual understanding and mutual benefits through creating bilateral networks as well as improving its multilateral relations with the surround countries as well as other states (Njogu, 2010). Through this bilateral relation has enhanced the protection of the Kenyan territorial boundaries and thus securing the countries social-economic priorities. Through the enactment of the new constitution, Kenya was able to come up with better policies that are meant to protect its territorial boundaries from other neighboring countries such as Somalia which has always attempted to claim part of its territory. Also, the Kenyan government has enhanced territorial security through partnering with other international organizations to counter-terrorism activities with neighboring countries such as Somalia. Also, the government is coming up with a boundary wall that will limit immigrate from bordering Somalia as well as trying to solve the current grievances between the Kenyan Muslims. Although some of the above strategies have been successful several challenges have been evident which includes the availability of increased porous points that increase the number of immigrates and thus increasing terrorist activities (Carol ,2017).

Sovereignty refers to the ability of a governing body such as a government to excise power without any interference from other external sources. Kenyan government is a sovereign nation, where all the sovereign power of the country belongs to the citizens. The countries power comes from the constitution where the constitution acts as the supreme law. Being a sovereign nation the country is only represented by one centralized government which exercises its power over its geographical area. Therefore, the county can have a permanent population, one government, defined territory, as well as to have the ability to create relations and relationships with other nations which are also sovereign. This is very important for the Kenyan government as it can do business with other sovereign nations and thus gaining a lot from the business. The country is also able to exercise power over its citizens without the influence of other nations. Through being sovereign, the country can form diplomatic relations with other nations which enhances business between and developments. Through being a sovereign state the country can reap a lot of benefits from other developed sovereign states in terms of development and technology and thus able to develop very fast. Although through being sovereign Kenyan government can have several advantages, the country can suffer several limitations which include suffering from international rules which have several restrictions for the sovereign countries. Because of these restrictions, the Kenyan governments may have difficulties doing business with other sovereign nations. Due to this sovereignty, in case a country passes offensive laws it is not easier for other countries to set in to change the laws (Drogus,2017).

Legitimacy-refers to the acceptance of a certain authority such as a regime or governing law. the legitimacy of any ruling regime in Kenya is governed by the country’s constitution which clearly defines how elections should be carried out as well as the requirements that a presidential candidate should meet. For one to be declared as the president in Kenya, he or she must attain 50% plus 1 of total casted votes as well as a win in more than 24 counties. The current ruling regime attained this threshold even if the presidential elections were nullified in the first round. The current regime in Kenya which is led by President Kenyatta is legitimate and thus accepted by all citizens. This has several advantages to the citizens and the whole government. This includes international acceptance which enhances better relations with other countries thus enhancing business which leads to development. Also, the citizens of a legitimacy government are ruled fairly because the ruling government listens to them as well giving the citizens a chance to select who will rule them. Through been legitimate the government of Kenya is less likely to go to war because they have the will of the people also, citizens can have a sense of belonging. Some of the challenges which are experienced in legitimacy governments include short-termism where elected leaders only serve for a short period before other leaders come. The current constitution limits the presidential term to five years where another election is conducted. This leads to better regimes in Kenya getting out before they can finish projects that require more time. Frequent elections also lead to a lot of money used to conduct the elections which may cause the country to lag in terms of development. Another challenge of legitimacy in Kenya is where the majority tyranny threatens the minority group and in many cases, the ruling regime serves the interests of the majority more (Orvis, 2017)

Bureaucracy- is a government system where the majority of the government decisions are made by state officials and not elected representatives. Bureaucracy is an important aspect of both public and private organizations. The Kenyan government is working under bureaucracy where the elected legislators come up with laws and policies which have to be signed by the president in the final step. This has several advantages to the citizens because it prevents one leader to have all the powers to rule its citizens. This ensures that laws and policies that are passed are scrutinized by different parties before they are passed and thus eliminating any oppressive laws. Through the following bureaucracy, chances of corruption are reduced especially in the public sectors and organizations. Through ensuring that decisions are made by different parties’ transparency is enhanced because everyone is involved in different tasks and thus being answered in a certain area. This is important in ensuring that there are procedures for doing certain things. For a country like Kenya, this is very crucial in ensuring that the president of the ruling regime does not come with oppressive laws. Bureaucracy limits the extent to the power bestowed on the president and thus limiting him from performing certain activities, but rather to follow certain procedures (CQ Press, 2018). Another importance of Kenya being bureaucratic is that it eliminates any room for favoritism. This is because the law requires a certain procedure to be followed and thus minimizing chances of favoring in the ruling. This is where a president cannot wake up and appoint anybody in certain positions. This is also important in minimizing the chances of corruption which could be more. Although bureaucracy has several advantages it takes a lot of time to pass some important policies due to procedures. Incase important decisions need to make and there are several procedures to be followed this leads to a lot of delays.

Kenya is ranked as one of the first developing countries in Africa. This because of its stable and thriving economy and a ripe and secure environment for investing. Through creating a supportive legal and policy environment the country has made significant steps in attracting new investors. Through ensuring proper measures to defend its territorial boundaries as well as exercising its sovereignty powers the government has attracted more investors in the country as well as enhancing the tourism sector. The government has also benefited from being legitimate where it has gained a lot of support from the citizens and outside country. Being a bureaucratic country, the country has been able to come up with better policies that serve the interests of the citizen as well as reducing the level of corruption and favoritism (Orvis, Stephenx2018).

Bibliography

  1. Orvis, Stephen, and Carol A. Drogus. Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context. Washington: CQ Press, 2017.
  2. Orvis, Stephen, and Carol A. Drogus. Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context. Washington: CQ Press, 2017.
  3. Orvis, Stephen W., and Carol A. Drogus. Introducing Comparative Politics; The Essentials. Washington: CQ Press, 2018.
  4. Orvis, Stephen W., and Carol A. Drogus. Introducing Comparative Politics; The Essentials. Washington: CQ Press, 2018.

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